This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Flail cutting systems are known having cutting blades which are rotated in a single cutting direction and which allow a single degree of freedom-of-rotation for the individual cutting blades. Flail cutting systems are commonly used in rough-cut applications such as heavy brush, or tall non-frequently cut grass or hay. For these reasons, flail cutting systems are commonly adapted to operate over rough, uneven terrain that commonly includes roots, small stumps, or small stones. Flail blades are commonly gang-mounted to a drum and may also include additional rotational mounting of the blades such that if a blade strikes a dense object or stone, the blade can reverse rotate opposite to the rotational arc of the drum to allow the flail blade to deflect to prevent damage to the blade. Mechanical and hydraulic drive systems are known which provide the necessary power to cut dense vegetation as well as to generate the startup torque required to initiate rotation of the large quantity of flail blades and supporting drum.
One of the disadvantages of mechanically or hydraulically driving a flail is the necessity of a powerful drive system to overcome start-up torque. The mechanical/hydraulic drive must be able to handle the large initial load put on the drive while trying to rotate the flail shaft from a dead stop. This start-up requirement necessarily dictates that the drive will be oversized and will therefore operate inefficiently during regular operation which is the preponderance of the duty cycle.